et non sapientior

A proposal in Malaysia’s Parliament to introduce the strict Islamic penal code known as hudud law is threatening to split the country’s government apart.

The proposed bill was introduced in parliament last Thursday by Abdul Hadi Awang, the president of the country’s opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party.
It will be debated in October and, if passed, will replace current provisions in the country’s Sharia courts — which govern Muslims — with harsher hudud punishments.

Hudud law allows for penalties such as amputation of limbs and stoning.

Of course, RATIONAL people are up in arms about the entire concept, while the mayor of Amity Island Prime Minister says “What to worry about!”

…”I would like to state that it’s not for the implementation of hudud. It’s just to give the Sharia courts enhanced punishments. From six-strokes caning to a few more,” he said, in an interview with local media.

SEE, silly wabbits? It’s just so they can whomp you a couple additional swings for perceived sins against whatever whack job Islamic edict was impinged upon at that moment/personal score had to be settled/woman had made the egregious error of getting herself raped.

As IF ANYONE in this day and age would lop off limbs or WORSE, especially if it were state sanctioned.

Sorry, Venezuela haters: this economy is not the Greece of Latin America
Mark Weisbrot
Predicting a Venezuelan apocalypse won’t make it happen

For more than a decade people opposed to the government of Venezuela have argued that its economy would implode. Like communists in the 1930s rooting for the final crisis of capitalism, they saw economic collapse just around the corner. How frustrating it has been for them to witness only two recessions: one directly caused by the opposition’s oil strike (December 2002-May 2003) and one brought on by the world recession (2009 and the first half of 2010). However, the government got control of the national oil company in 2003, and the whole decade’s economic performance turned out quite well, with average annual growth of real income per person of 2.7% and poverty reduced by over half, and large gains for the majority in employment, access to health care, pensions and education.

Now Venezuela is facing economic problems that are warming the cockles of the haters’ hearts. We see the bad news every day: consumer prices up 49% over the last year; a black market where the dollar fetches seven times the official rate; shortages of consumer goods from milk to toilet paper; the economy slowing; central bank reserves falling. Will those who cried wolf for so long finally see their dreams come true?

Not likely. In the opposition’s analysis Venezuela is caught in an inflation-devaluation spiral, where rising prices domestically undermine confidence in the economy and currency, causing capital flight and driving up the black market price of the dollar. This adds to inflation, as does – in their theory – money creation by the government. And its price controls, nationalisations and other interventions have caused more structural problems. Hyperinflation, rising foreign debt and a balance-of-payments crisis will mark the end of this economic experiment.

But how can a government with more than $90bn in oil revenue end up with a balance-of-payments crisis? Well, the answer is: it can’t, and won’t.

…“To me personally, the day to an appointment is really not what we should be measuring, what we should be measuring is the veterans satisfaction,” he said.
To illustrate his point, he cited the long lines at Disney theme parks.

“When you go to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line or what’s important?” he said.

WASHINGTON — Citations for two Navy Crosses and more than 100 Silver Star medals awarded secretly to Navy SEALs and a Marine for “extraordinary heroism” in the last 15 years reflect the fierce battles that have been fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to records obtained by USA TODAY.

The Navy decorated the Marine for saving the lives of civilians in Benghazi in September 2012. Several SEALs earned theirs for intense combat in Ramadi, others for rescuing hostages in Afghanistan. The Navy also honored the deadly efficiency of the “American Sniper,” the late SEAL Chris Kyle.

…Benghazi

The most tersely worded citation accompanied the only other Navy Cross, awarded to a Marine gunnery sergeant. His heroism on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, came amid the chaos and controversy that surrounds the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. A House committee continues to investigate the attack, the U.S. response and the role of Hillary Clinton, then the Secretary of State and now the likely Democratic nominee for president.

It’s possible, through the citation and congressional reports on Benghazi, to sketch out his actions that night. The citation refers to his actions “in support of Overseas Contingency Operations in Sept. 2012” but does not say where. The Navy has acknowledged that it did award a Navy Cross to the Marine for his actions that night.

A House intelligence committee report on Benghazi refers to a two-person detachment of military personnel and other security personnel who flew from Tripoli that night to rescue Americans. They arrived at the besieged compound, and within 11 minutes were under attack by mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. The attack killed two and severely wounded two others. The Marine helped treat the wounded, repel attackers and organize the evacuation.

His “valorous actions, dedication to duty and willingness to place himself in harm’s way for the protection of others was critical to the success of saving numerous United States civilian lives,” the citation says.

Interesting things are starting to filter out about that video inspired rumble in the Sahara. (You know, the one where the SecState at the time has said no Americans died?) First we learn from disgruntled AirForce types cooling their heels in Aviano that they WERE turning and burning on the tarmac, just waiting for the high sign to take off and rock some Jihadis’ world.

When we were told there wasn’t anyone who could. Administration/Hillary Clinton claim status?
LIE.

Now, with this terse little report of a Marine Gunny’s extraordinary (read: MARINE) courage and exceptional organization in the middle of the shit, we learn that folks FLEW INTO TRIPOLI SPECIFICALLY with the intent to RELIVE BENGHAZI.

When we were told they couldn’t. Administration/Hillary Clinton claim status?
LIE.

I don’t care WHO is running against Hillary Clinton, but I’m voting for them.

“She’s horrible at running, but she’s fantastic at governing,” a longtime friend and supporter said.

SAY WHAT? Give me ONE example to prove your thesis there, champ. ONE SINGLE THING Hillary Clinton has ever touched that either wasn’t a flat-out LIE to begin with, a shit sandwich during or an epic disaster in the aftermath.

‘We could have been there’: Squadron member speaks out on stalled Benghazi response

His squadron got the alert: a “real world mission was going down.”

The team – at Aviano Air Base in northeastern Italy – raced to the field and was briefed, as planes were armed and prepared to launch. Hundreds of miles away, fellow Americans were under attack in Benghazi.

“There were people everywhere,” said the witness, who was on the ground that night but wished to remain anonymous. “That flight line was full of people, and we were all ready to go” to Benghazi.

Only they were waiting for the order. It never came.

“The whole night we were told that we are waiting on a call,”…

A old squadron Marine Corps friend of ours pointed out on FaceBook that the Google Map seems to have been adjusted to reflect to administrations contention that no one could get there in time. Google is saying it’s a NINETEEN HOUR FLIGHT from Aviano to Benghazi.

Damn. That has to be by State Department email retrieval time, because it’s only FOURHUNDRED AND FIFTY MILES as a crow flies. As an F-18 flies?

About a half an hour.

As an AC-130 Spectre flies?

Two hours, three MAX.

Horrifying it HAS to be said: pray every night for those brave Americans in uniform on the ground against ISIS and the Taliban. The ONE thing an American could ALWAYS count on was the cavalry coming to the rescue.

How the Clintons Worked the Angles in HaitiBill handled earthquake aid while Hillary was secretary of state. The nation deserved better.

The U.S. Founding Fathers went out of their way to establish a republic guided by the rule of law and not the rule of men. If there is a singular principle that has set the U.S. apart from countries south of the Rio Grande it’s the checks and balances that protect against caudillo power.

Yet in the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake, while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, the Obama administration and Congress gave Bill Clinton carte blanche in handling hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars flowing to Haiti for recovery and reconstruction. This translated into enormous political power for the former president in the poorest country in the hemisphere, making him a de facto cacique.

Mr. Clinton loves to paint himself as a third-world redeemer, as he did in an interview in Africa with an NBC reporter that aired last week. The reporter asked about charges that the Clinton Foundation’s practice of pulling in big money from governments and wealthy donors during Hillary’s tenure as secretary of state was a conflict of interest.

Mr. Clinton countered that he’s helping the poor…

…Within two weeks of Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake, the word had already gone out from the State Department that Bill Clinton would be in charge of U.S. reconstruction efforts.

“That means,” one individual told me and I reported in a Jan. 25, 2010 column, “if you don’t have Clinton connections, you won’t be in the game.”

The “game,” as my source called it, meant securing hundreds of millions of dollars in no-bid contracts from the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development and grants from multilateral institutions like the InterAmerican Development Bank, which gets the bulk of its funding from the U.S.

The Clintons deny that Bill’s power over State’s purse was used to secure donations to the Clinton Foundation. But at least two contributors who gave more than $1 million as I described in a March 9 column, including the InterAmerican Development Bank, benefited from U.S. earthquake aid.

There’s a lot that didn’t get done. In the north of the country, the Clinton-proposed Caracol Industrial Park was supposed to feature some 40 buildings for apparel assembly supporting up to 65,000 jobs. It remains a mystery why there are still only three buildings in full operation and only 5,000 jobs, despite plenty of tenant interest.

Bill’s first concern is always helping the poor. Remember he and Hillary went from “dead broke” to $53M now?
And they both STILL have to work, you know.
It’s tough.

An American military dog is being hailed a hero after charging ISIS militants during a recent firefight in northern Iraq.

…The incident purportedly took place in northern Iraq, not far from the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, and near the village where an American Navy SEAL was killed in battle on May 3. According to the British paper, Daily Star Sunday, a small team of SAS commandos were en route back to their base when one of their four vehicles was struck by a roadside bomb. The troops were immediately encircled by about 50 ISIS militants, who were armed with a pair of machine gun-mounted Toyotas.

Taking fire from three directions, the commandos dismounted their vehicles and scrambled for cover. A fierce firefight ensued, and the Brits feared they were being overrun. We’re assuming the jihadists were not expecting what happened next. As the battle raged, a U.S. soldier, who was attached to the SAS team, decided to give the enemy a taste of American might — or, shall we say, American bite — in the form of a pissed off German shepherd.

German shepherds — sometimes referred to as “Alsatians” in European countries — are often favored by U.S. military units because they’re intelligent, loyal, and extremely aggressive when need be. This one was no different. As soon as the American unleashed the K-9, the ISIS militants tried to shoot it. They missed.

The dog leaped at one of the fighters, ripping into his face and neck, before mangling the arms and legs of another. Both militants turned and fled, screaming.

“[The dog] could sense the tension and had an overpowering urge to protects its handler and the other troops,” a source told Daily Star. “A snarling [German shepherd] running at you is very frightening and probably not something the jihadis had encountered. The dog did its job and returned to its handler with its tail wagging.”

Much EASIER when you have them under your direct control, right? Survey says…YES!

Don’t look now, but because of that mean old Republican governor (I’m making the inevitable excuse now), I guess the Democratic mayor of Flint, MI (Yes, THAT Flint) was forced to divert donors and their $s to her campaign fund instead of a Flint victims’ charity fund. I know how this goes, so this HAS to be a Republican’s fault, right?

Flint mayor diverted water-crisis money to political PAC, suit says

The former city administrator of Flint, Michigan, filed a federal lawsuit against the current mayor’s office, claiming she was fired after raising concerns about donors being directed away from a charity for victims of the city’s water crisis and toward a fund sharing a name with the mayor’s campaign fund.

In the suit filed Monday, fired administrator Natasha Henderson claims that in February 2016, Flint’s current mayor, Karen Weaver, directed a former city employee and a city volunteer to stop directing potential donors to a charity called Safe Water/Safe Homes. That charity was run by the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and had been approved by the city for water-crisis donations.

Instead, the lawsuit claims city employee Maxine Murray was directed by Weaver to begin directing donations to “Karenabout Flint.” According to the lawsuit, Murray came to Henderson “in tears” and in fear of “going to jail.”

“Karen About Flint” is Her Honor’s campaign website, where I got that bang-up, servant-of-the-people quote at the top of this post. Double entrendre there, n’est pas?

But isn’t it amazing that in one of the most crime-infested cities in the country (and I’m not even including Congress or the White House…or the IRS or the State Department) the Powers That Be™ in Washington DC decide that what they REALLY need to devote their resources to, the scourge that they need to fight to keep their citizens safe is, well, er chickens

The chickens of the 3900 block of Jenifer Street NW are, by all appearances, well-cared for, each looked after by one of the four children of Allison Sheedy and Daniel McInnis.

There is the fluffy, yellow Mrs. Tiggy-winkle; the big, black-and-white Minnie Mouse; the mottled-orange India; and the burgundy-toned Red, named for Washington’s football team.

Their coop rests under a holly tree in the spacious back yard of a 10,000-square-foot Chevy Chase double lot that features two gardens — one for vegetables, one for herbs — where neighborhood kids have been known to stop by, say hello and, perhaps, pick up a fresh-laid egg.

But now, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle and her feathered friends have been targeted by the D.C. Department of Health. The health department has declared the chickens contraband — and Sheedy and McInnis, both attorneys, have filed suit against the department and sought a temporary restraining order to keep their birds.

…The District government doesn’t agree, at least when it comes to fowl. Officials with the health department and D.C.’s attorney general’s office declined to comment on the case or restrictions on chickens and coops in the city.

Sheedy and McInnis’s analysis of D.C. law, however, challenges the city’s restrictions. They say city regulations prevent building a coop within 50 feet “of any building used for human habitation.” Though that might rule out a coop for a D.C. rowhouse, an expansive Chevy Chase lot like theirs could host one, they argue.

…In addition, Sheedy and McInnis focused on a 1993 amendment to the D.C. Animal Control Act that they say the health department relies on in banning chickens. The amendment was meant to outlaw wolves, wolf-hybrids and other “exotic” animals, they say, not backyard fowl. They also say it specifically permits “captive-bred species of common cage birds.”

“Plaintiffs are unaware of any chicken breeds that are part wolf or wolf-dog,” their complaint read. “Plaintiffs are also unaware of any incidents in the District of dangerous chickens biting people.”

They have a large lot, and they have four hens. Please note, hens. Ours neighbors are dear sweet people, and they have chickens (they used to have a bunch of quail too, they were awesome but that’s another story). I love their chickens, and have no problem with them.

However, once they had a rooster.

Every morning at 4 am and 5 am that sonuvabitch would cock-a-doodle-doo.

Now, since I leave the house at 4 it only annoyed me on the weekends; my Bride, well she was annoyed 24/7, so I did the Good Neighbor Thing and talked to those good folks and Old Foghorn disappeared real quick.

But these good folks are very clear that they DON’T have a rooster, just 4 hens laying eggs, eating bugs, and teaching their kids how to be responsible and care for other living creatures. Oh, and savvy readers will notice that Daniel has a TOTALLY kick ass Lodge cast iron pan that he is frying up those eggs in.

People, you want to vote for Big Government to solve all your problems…this is what you get.

Obama’s Foreign Policy Guru Boasts of How the Administration Lied to Sell the Iran Deal

It’s hardly any wonder that Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes has a “mind meld” with his boss, the president. According to a David Samuels New York Times Magazine article to be published Sunday and already posted to the website, Rhodes, like Barack Obama, is contemptuous of “the American foreign-policy establishment.” What Obama calls the “Washington playbook” dictating the sorts of responses available to American policymakers, Rhodes calls the “Blob.”

The Blob includes “editors and reporters at The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker,” etc. It also encompasses, according to Rhodes, Obama’s former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and the administration’s first defense secretary Robert Gates. Presumably Leon Panetta, former Pentagon chief and CIA director, who goes on the record to criticize Rhodes and the president, is also part of the Blob, alongside “other Iraq-war promoters from both parties who now whine incessantly about the collapse of the American security order in Europe and the Middle East.” In other words, the emotion driving the administration’s foreign policy is contempt—contempt for allies, colleagues, and the generations of American policymakers who built the post-WWII international order, ensuring relative global stability, and peace and prosperity at home.

…As Rhodes admits, it’s not that hard to shape the narrative. “All these newspapers used to have foreign bureaus,” Rhodes said. “Now they don’t. They call us to explain to them what’s happening in Moscow and Cairo. Most of the outlets are reporting on world events from Washington. The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns.

…of asking the home invader what his intentions are and, if violence is included, accepting it as your fate, because…well…Christ.

Via Glenn: And the PERFECT illustration of the rollover-and-die principle happens almost immediately. You KNOW what Preacher Man would have had this quick thinking young lad do, even though the question was fairly put to the home intruder vis-à-vis HIS intentions…

Young boy shoots suspected burglar, mocks him for ‘crying like a baby’

11-year-old Chris Gaither from Talladega, Alabama, has told reporters how an intruder “cried like a baby” after Chris shot him in the leg with a 9mm handgun.

Home school-student Chris was alone at his house on Wednesday morning when he heard footsteps; someone had broken in and was walking around upstairs, apparently intending to burgle the Gaither’s home.

Chris took hold of a nearby gun and prepared to face the intruder, who started coming back down the stairs carrying a hamper.

“When he was coming down the stairs, that’s when he told me he was going to kill me, f-you and all that,” the boy told local news broadcaster WVTM.